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Rick Moranis Reviving Spaceballs’ Dark Helmet For The Goldbergs

Rick Moranis will come out of retirement to play his iconic Spaceballs character Dark Helmet on this week's episode of The Goldbergs. The comedic talents of Rick Moranis first came to light on the classic sketch comedy series SCTV, which ran on various networks from 1976 to 1984. From there, Moranis launched a movie career and quickly became one of the most beloved comic actors in Hollywood, appearing in everything from Ghostbusters to Little Shop of Horrors to My Blue Heaven.

Among all Moranis' memorable comedic turns in the '80s, none would become more iconic than his performance as Dark Helmet, the villain of Mel Brooks' 1986 Star Wars spoof, Spaceballs. A take-off of Darth Vader, Dark Helmet lives up to his name by wearing a hilariously oversized helmet and facemask (that recently went up for auction). In moments of exasperation, Helmet flips up his facemask to reveal not a mangled Darth Vader visage, but rather the face of a nebbishy guy in Harry Potter glasses.

For the first time since way back in 1986, Moranis will once again play Dark Helmet. As reported by USA Today, Moranis will reprise his famed Spaceballs character on this week's episode of the sitcom The Goldbergs. This marks Moranis' first on-screen appearance since he retired from movies after 1997's Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. As series creator Adam F. Goldberg explained, he hopes Moranis' unexpected return will kickstart a possible Spaceballs sequel:

“I truly think Rick Moranis gave the most underrated and brilliant comedic performance in any '80s movie as Dark Helmet. I’ve been a lifelong fan of his work and became obsessed with having him reprise the role on my show. As an added bonus, maybe this even gets Spaceballs back in the conversation and I can get my dream of helping make a sequel!”

Indeed, talk has heated up in recent months about a possible revival of Spaceballs. Mel Brooks himself said in an interview last year that he's had talks with MGM about bringing back the classic spoof. With Star Wars once again dominating the pop culture conversation, the time seems right for Spaceballs to make its own long-awaited return.

The fact that Moranis will actually play Dark Helmet again should be an encouraging sign for those hoping Spaceballs will make its way back to movie screens. Because for a long time it seemed Moranis was well-and-truly retired from movies with no thought of ever coming back. Of course, there's a big difference between a one-off cameo on a sitcom and actually taking on a role in a feature film. Moranis seems like someone who enjoys retirement, so who knows if Brooks could talk him into coming all the way back for his first movie in two decades.

But fans of Spaceballs will no doubt enjoy seeing Moranis back as Dark Helmet in any capacity. They will definitely want to check out the Spaceballs tribute episode of The Goldbergs set to air Wednesday, May 9th, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.